Theoretical perspectives on technology and society: implications for understanding the relationship between ICTs and family life

Abstract

This chapter explores four theoretical perspectives on technology and society — technological determinism, social constructivism, actor network theory (ANT), and posthumanism — and situates them within current empirical research on information and communication technologies (ICTs) and family dynamics. Technological determinism theorises the relationship between technological and social change that informs academic, policy and popular accounts about the place of technology in everyday life. Social constructivist approaches to technology include ‘social shaping of technology’, ‘social construction of technology’ and ‘technological systems’ perspectives. The chapter also explains the main assumptions of ANT and posthumanist approaches before proceeding with a discussion of how technological determinism, social constructivism and ANT have implicitly or explicitly shaped empirical research on ICTs and family life. It concludes by considering the implications of posthumanism for research on ICTs and family life.